GREEN CLEANING
Before we begin - here’s an awesome study done on the power of essential oils in cleaning.
and, visit these links to understand the toxicity level of your current cleaning solutions:
The 2 Hour Clean
Water house plants + fill diffuser basins
Diffuse 2 drops each arborvitae + wild orange
Play your fave music playlist or podcast
Drop a toilet puck in each toilet
Sprinkle carpets with carpet refresher
Strip the beds and sprinkle with mattress powder
Run load of laundry/bedding - add your laundry booster
Dust/Clean all surfaces with all purpose cleaner
Polish mirrors + glass with glass cleaner
Clean sinks + shower walls with scrub
Vacuum floors
Mop floors with floor cleaner
Transfer laundry to dryer and add laundry balls/sponges
Spray beds/pillows with linen spray before remaking
Tuck a cotton ball with 2 drops lavender into the pillow cases
DIY Recipes
Washing The Dishes
CLICK HERE FOR THE WHOLE POST ON DISH TABS
ALTERNATE RECIPE FOR DISH TABS:
1. Put 1 cup Baking Soda, 1/4 cup Citric Acid, 1 Tablespoon of On Guard Cleaner Concentrate and 3 drops Grapefruit Essential Oil in a mixing bowl
2. Mix together until the mix has an even consistency.
3. Place in silicon moulds and let sit 4 hours.
4. Store in an airtight container.
All Purpose Cleaner
It just makes cleaning an enjoyable process 💪
My current fave recipes are:
2 tbsp of the OnGuard cleaning concentrate + 20 drops wild orange and 24oz water
OR 2 tbsp OG cleaning concentrate + 10 drops OnGuard oil blend + 10 drops Peppermint
Whiz around your kitchen spraying counters, fridge handles and lunch bags. It's the best ever, it works, it's cheap and unlike all the other cleaners in the land - this one comes with side benefits (mood enhancing) instead of robbing our vitality. ✌🏻️🌍
LINKS:
Click Here to see why you'll use doTERRA OnGuard Cleaning Concentrate tons of different ways in your home.
And research on it if that's more your jam: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2994788/
OnGuard Wipes
Ingredients
Quality paper towel roll
1/2 cup vinegar
1 cup water
1 tablespoon On Guard Cleaner Concentrate
Instructions
Cut the paper towel roll to fit lengthwise in your chosen container and place it inside. (We used an old cleaning wipes container.) Mix all the wet ingredients together, then pour all over the paper towel into the container. Wait a few minutes and pull out the cardboard tube in the center once it is soaked through. Then grab a paper towel from the center and pull up so your wipes will feed from the middle.
Dusting Spray
1 cup water
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
10 drops of Lemon essential oil
Window Cleaner
½ cup white vinegar
½ cup rubbing alcohol
10 drops Lemon
1 Tbsp Cornstarch or arrowroot powder
Floor Cleaner
1 gallon hot water
1 cup of white vinegar
10 drops of Lemon essential oil
Garbage Refresher
Ingredients
2 cups baking soda
1 cup salt
½ cup water
¼ cup liquid castile soap (any scent)
15 drops Tangerine or Wild Orange oil
15 drops Spearmint oil
Alternative: Wild Orange + Peppermint work great for this too!
Instructions
Combine baking soda and salt into bowl.
Add castile soap and essential oil into mixture.
Add water ,one tablespoon at a time while stirring with hands until it forms into the consistency of "damp sand." It should stay together when you press it together. If you add too much water, just add some more baking soda and salt until the consistency is right.
Pack mixture tightly into a small silicone mold. If you don’t have a silicone mold, just grab a tablespoon measurement device and scoop packed spoonfuls onto parchment paper.
Let mixture dry for 24 hours or until hard.
Put into glass jar and use the next time you do dishes. Just place one or two refreshers into the garbage disposal and turn it on. You will immediately smell the refreshing and cleansing aroma.
Produce Spray
Washing your produce in a homemade produce wash is a great way to make sure your food is clean.
Use 2 cups of water
½ cup white distilled vinegar
10 drops of Lemon essential oil in a spray bottle.
Shake before each use and spray your produce liberally to clean it.
Produce Soak
Fill a big bowl with water and add:
1/4c vinegar
a few drops of lemon essential oil
Let produce soak for 10 minutes before rinsing it off.
In The Laundry Room
Laundry Booster
Mix together:
3 cups Kosher or epsom Salt
10 drops of Lavender
Instructions
Let sit in a closed container until your next laundry load.
Use 1/4 cup per load to give your laundry a natural and lasting aroma.
In the Bathroom
Easy Bathroom Refresher Hacks
Say no to synthetic icky air fresheners in your home - they are conspiring to take away from your beautiful health.
Add a drop of @doterra purify blend or lemongrass to the inside of the roll. With every spin the bathroom becomes lovely.
When the bathroom smells a little funkier than it did a few minutes ago - add 1-2 drops of peppermint into the toilet bowl.
Natural Toilet Cleaning Pods
Forget the toxic chemicals of traditional cleansers and try these do-it-yourself Natural Toilet-Cleaning Pods using Purify Cleansing Blend. Purify’s refreshing and herbal aroma will quickly replace unpleasant odors with a clean scent while eliminating tough odors in a natural, safe way.
Ingredients
1 cup baking soda
¼ cup citric acid
1½ tablespoon unscented castile soap
15 drops Purify Cleansing Blend
Instructions
Stir the baking soda and citric acid together until combined.
Slowly stir in the castile soap and Purify. Stir until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Pack the pod mixture into a mold and let dry at least four hours. If the mixture expands above the mold, firmly press back down.
Once dry, remove the pods from the mold and store in an airtight container.
To use, simply drop one into the toilet, wait until the pod stops bubbling, and scrub away!
Melaleuca (Tea Tree) essential oil is the perfect cleaning companion due to its high terpinen-4-ol content. For a quick and easy shower-cleansing spray, simply place 20 drops of Melaleuca into a glass spray bottle and fill with 1/4 cup distilled vinegar and top with water.
Simply shake bottle and spray over shower surfaces and wipe clean.
You will be amazed at its purifying qualities.
More DIY Recipes
MakeUp Brushes
How often do you clean your makeup brushes? Here is an easy cleaner for you!
2 parts On Guard Cleaner concentrate
1 ½ parts Olive Oil
Let brushes sit in mixture for 20-30 minutes and air dry.
Powder Cleanser
Deep cleaning doesn't have to mean hours of scrubbing on your hands and knees. This powdered cleanser makes it easy to clean even the grimiest of surfaces with little to no work. Just sprinkle on the surface, walk away for 15-30 minutes, and then wipe clean. It's that easy!
Ingredients
2 cups borax
1 cup baking soda
½ cup citric acid
½ cup kosher salt
20 drops Lemon essential oil
Note: Although borax is natural, it can be toxic when ingested and should be kept away from children and pets. If you are concerned about using borax, you can omit it.
Directions
Combine all ingredients into a large bowl and stir until combined. Store in a large shaker bottle.
To use, dampen surface and sprinkle powder over area you want to clean.
Let sit for 15-30 minutes. For an extra cleansing boost, spray distilled vinegar on powder and wipe clean.
Tip: Use an old spice or Parmesan cheese shaker as your shaker bottle.
Enjoy your new sparkly-clean surface.
Wood Polish
Is your wood furniture starting to look dull and lifeless? Wood furniture is an investment that needs to be cared for and maintained. Although polishing wood furniture should only be done every few months, it is important to continually keep the wood clean by dusting or wiping it with a damp microfiber cloth.
Bring the shine back to your favorite tables, chairs, floors, and other wood elements with this simple recipe for homemade wood polish with doTERRA essential oils.
Ingredients
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup vinegar
10 drops doTERRA essential oils
Recommended oils: Wild Orange, Arborvitae, or Lemon.
Instructions:
Add olive oil and vinegar to glass spray bottle.
Add 10 drops of essential oil.
Shake well before each use.
Apply to microfiber cloth and wipe wood surfaces clean. Repeat every two to three months or as often as needed.
Fridge/ Closet Refreshers
With all the different food items, it's only natural to have a smelly fridge, right? Well, not anymore! These easy to make fridge refreshers are a simple way to deodorize your refrigerator without the use of toxic cleaners. Just place one refresher in your fridge each month for a fresh and clean scent every time you open up your fridge. Now, there is no excuse for having a smelly fridge!
Ingredients
2.5 cups baking soda
1/2 - 1 cup water
15 drops Purify essential oil
Silicone mold
Directions
Combine baking soda, 1/2 cup water, and essential oils into bowl. Stir together. If needed, add more water until thick paste forms. The mixture should resemble damp sand. Divide mixture equally into silicone mold. Allow it to rest 2-3 days or until mixture hardens. Once hard, place in refrigerator to help eliminate unpleasant odors. Store additional fridge refreshers in an airtight container until ready to use. One disk will last up to a month.
Mattress Dust Mite Solution
So a few weeks ago I began researching organic mattresses. If you'd like to see the 3 brands I've narrowed it down to along with a tremendously helpful thread of comments - head over to my personal Facebook profile and see my most recent post.
One of the things I came to find out through my research, is that a standard coil mattress will double its weight in 10 yrs because of all the trapped dead skin, dust mites and other body particles that settle in the springs. Oh. My. Word.
So what do is essential oilers do but flip open our fave book, The Essential Life, and find our armour. Today's awesome recipe comes from pg. 300 of the 1st edition:
Create a sprinkle jar of 1 cup baking soda + 5 drops Melaleuca (tea tree oil) and sprinkle on the bare mattress. Open you windows and leave for 2 hrs before vacuuming it up. This is enough for a twin size mattress. Studies have shown that pure melaleuca oil (only use @doterra because store bought won't work) immobilized 100% of dust mites after 30 min and killed them all after 2 hrs 💪🏻
I meet people every day that think that these bottles of oil I've been talking about for almost 4 years are just pretty smells. Honestly I wish these ppl could follow me around for just 1 day to see the 30 different ways I use them in our home, with my kids, in every situation there is often an essential oil approach.
When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has told us that the air inside our homes is more dangerous than the air outside our homes - we listen.
Did you know that the FDA doesn't mandate that companies disclose the full ingredients on household care products? This is why this playground contains hundreds of brands that are pumping harmful, very common ingredients into what we're buying ...
such as:
chlorine bleach
ammonia
coal tar dye
formaldehyde
triclosan
fragrance
phosphates etc.
Click here to understand what the Environmental Working Group (EWG) thinks about the chemicals that brands are pumping into the products they're selling you.
They even give the most common products (In 2017, the average American family spent about $40 to $50 each month on cleaning supplies, roughly calculating to $600 a year. This amount is usually spent on cleaning supplies that have one-time use, not reusable or washable materials.) a rating to help you understand what the ingredients in the products you may be buying are linked with when it comes to health concerns
Helpful Resources
From Mind Body Green: 11 Tips To Remove Toxins From Your Life & Revamp Your Health
10 Ways to Clean with Lemon Essential Oil
